


Bachelor Mitch Marner

by Anonymous



Category: Men's Hockey RPF, The Bachelor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Augmented Reality, Bachelor AU, Includes irl wags, M/M, Reality TV AU, bachelor levels of drama, bachelor meta, character tags will change when I’ve decided on a new ensemble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2020-05-20 00:57:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19367017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: This season’s Bachelor, Mitch Marner, as many may remember from his surprising let down with Bachelor Matt Martin, is ready to try again. After charming half of last year's suitors as well as the Bachelor himself, Mitch should have no problem garnering the attention of the twenty new candidates!Will Mitch find lasting love or be let down again? Don't miss the 2 Hour Opening Special on ABC 7:00c!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I found this in my google drive and remember just how much I loved where I was going with this. I think a large portion of this was going to be written in augmented parts, ie. news articles, podcast postscripts, fan blogs, episode recounts and then peppered in with some "behind the scenes" footage where the actual interactions between the talent would occur. If you like Bachelor/Bachelorette meta you've come to the right place XD
> 
> I am literally trying to do ten other things right now so this fic is my lowest priority and not something I should be working on at all XD but if it gets enough attention I'll continue. 
> 
> I've shuffled some ages and factoids around about the guys to make the lineup seem more like a typical Bach lineup but will do my best to keep their tv personas in line with the real life celebrity personas.

**http://bachmeta.net**

 

**NEW SEASON OF BACHELOR LEAVES FANS ASKING “WHERE ARE THE LADIES?”**

 

This season’s Bachelor, Mitchell Marner, as many may remember from his surprising let down with Bachelor Matt Martin, will be the first gay Bachelor in franchise history. Hot on the heels of the first  _ bisexual _ Bachelor season with Matt, Mitch’s season has stirred up some controversy with longstanding fans. 

 

As any die-hard  _ Bach  _ fan knows, seasons of the  _ Bachelor _ and  _ Bachelorette _ always alternate, often choosing the next star from the previous show, with summer favorites like Bachelor in Paradise in between to give night-oner’s another chance at love. This year, however, with the outstanding popularity of contestant Mitch Marner, the  _ Bachelor  _ will actually be reprised, leaving many heads scratching as to the fate of the  _ Bachelorette _ .

 

With a largely female fan base, it’s no surprise that viewers are eager for a woman on screen again. With no women to choose from from this coming season, fans worry that interest and familiarity with the ladies from Matt’s season may cause disinterest and even cancellation of the female lead version of the popular franchise. The zeitgeist that is the franchise seems to suggest otherwise.

 

The progressive action the show has taken casting a gay lead may alienate the show’s more conservative roots. Others, however, are astounded by the move and excited by the franchise’s steps towards progress. Others still are concerned about the formulaic structure of the show and it’s history with missteps in progress. Most notably  _ Rachel’s season _ and the  _ following season of  _ _ BIP _ where issues of racism and rape were handled poorly by the studio, as well as ABC, leading to a massive uproar against the show. 

 

They must have hired new writers though seeing as Matt’s season as the first bisexual bachelor  created not only new logistical problems but also new narratives, making it one of the most watched seasons in series history. 

 

Bachelor Mitch has a lot to live up to in terms of entertainment. While the viewership is still largely heterosexual women, the interest in his season hasn’t waned.  _ Some critics _ believe this is due to a fetishistic interest in the relationships of gay men and the idea of “shipping” while  _ other critics _ think that this a great step towards normalizing LGBTQ relationships in mainstream media.

 

Whatever the narrative, we will have to wait and see how Mitch and his boys get “edited” this season so tune in Monday, June 7th at 7:00c!

 

_ Jan Janis _ , May 28th, 2021

 

~~

 

Rosebuddies Podcast

 

**Griffin McElroy** : “Heeeelllllllooooo, we are back to wax poetic about these good good boys”

 

**Rachel McElroy** : We are very excited for this season of the Bachelor. 

 

**Griffin:** That’s right, this season is starring probably our favorite contestant on this show to date. Wouldn’t you say so?

 

**Rachel** : Oh my god yes. So if you are just joining us and aren’t familiar with this podcast or the show, last season’s Bachelor was Matt Martin who was, well I mean he still is, obviously, bisexual.

 

**Griffin** : Yes, the first bisexual lead on the show ever. Matt, or Matty as he became affectionately known, is 32, a retired hockey player, and sports a lovely mullet.

 

**Rachel** : *huff* It was not a mullet 

 

**Griffin** : Fine. He had a nice  _ flow.  _ That’s what hockey people say isn’t it?

 

**Rachel** : Honey…

 

**Griffin:** What? Is it not? I thought you were big hockey fan? What would it be then?

 

**Rachel:** *giggle* We’ve been over this Griffin. 

 

**Griffin:** What being a Blues fan and all? St. Louis Blues? Good Ol’ Saint Loui-y?

 

**Rachel:** *giggling* Griffin please.

 

**Griffin** : ANYWAY, he has a beautiful head of hair, had both men and women on the show, and was a complete DOG.  Nah, I’m just playing he just made out with a lot of folks it was fine.

 

**Rachel** : And one of those people…

 

**Griffin** : Was our favorite good boy, Mitchell Marner. 

 

**Griffin** : Mitch Marner is 26 as of May, a biochemical engineer, Leafs fan, and loves playing beer league hockey with his friends.

 

**Rachel** : He won our hearts with his impressive recovery after hurting himself on a group date, ironically enough, at an ice rink. 

 

**Griffin** : Ah yes, he took a pretty good stumble in figure skates, bonked his head on the boards, and elicited the help of not just the bachelor but of a number of the men and women on the group date and few older ladies sharing the rink as well.

 

**Rachel** : He handled it with great humility and even had a laugh at himself.

 

**Griffin** : Haha yes, I believe he said something along the lines of “The secret is out, I’m a hockey player who can’t skate.”

 

**Rachel** : This seemed to gain him a lot of points with Matt.

 

**Griffin** : Yes, indeed. After laughing at him for a good five minutes before helping him up, Matty took this opportunity to  _ chirp. the living. shit _ out of our boy Mitch. But Mitchy, man, he gave it right back. Their banter lasted a good minute, which in screen time is  _ forever _ .

 

**Rachel** : Griffin would know.

 

**Griffin** : *cackling*  _ Ahahaha yes I would,  _ seeing as I am a _ big Hollywood hotshot with a tv show now. _

 

**Rachel** : *giggling* Anyway, the connection seemed really real and they both seemed to get a kick out of teasing each other and sharing their love of hockey.

 

**Griffin** : Anyway, enough backstory, we should probably be getting on to this season's contestants…

 

12:50-55:33 :paused:

 

~~

  
  



	2. Last Season on The Bachelor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at the Matt Martin season finale. The dramatic finale that had fans sobbing and media pundits arguing. How did Mitch become the new season’s Bachelor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just typed this up on my iPad after rereading the first chapter. No edit we die like men. XD I’ll try to comeback and clean it up in the a.m.

LAST SEASON ON... THE BACHELOR:

Matt: “ Mitchy...”

Camera cuts to Mitch Marner. Mitch is dressed in light blue suit and his perfectly coiffed hair is coming undone from their windy location on a stone balcony in Spain. He’s sporting an expression somewhere between hopeful and melancholic.

Matt: “Syd...”

Camera turns to Sydney Esiason. She’s in a beautiful form fitting blue silk gown. Likewise her glamorous blonde curls are slowly tangling in the breeze. She’s playing it closer to the chest and looks on almost neutrally.

Matt: “This is truly...the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life...”

Camera transitions to a one-on-one time with Mitch.

They are sitting side by side in empty stands after the ice skating group date.

Mitch “So what made you decide to retire?”

Matt sighs. “I had that hip injury in my... tenth season I think. And I had surgery on it in the off-season.”

Mitch: “I remember that. That was before you were traded to the Islanders...”

Matt huffing a laugh. “Yeah. So I had the surgery and was still able to skate. But it wasn’t the same. I had definitely taken a step back. I wanted to keep playing but my body just wasn’t in that place anymore. Thankfully or disappointingly, my role was diminished on the Isles. There weren’t as many new guys for me to protect...”

Mitch “And enforcers were already becoming less of a thing..”

Matt laughing again “Right! But I bet you’d like someone looking out for you on the ice!”

Mitch laughing “Punching someone in the face for me would be super romantic”

Matt “SEE someone appreciates my talents.”

Mitch laughs and snuggles closer.

Matt sighs again. “After my contract was up I decided it was time to bow out. My body was already destroyed and I’d spent my entire twenties working and had never built a real connection. I couldn’t believe I was turning thirty and had never been in a serious long term relationship”.

Mitch “ But you’re here now...I’m glad” He’s leaning in and looking up at Matt imploringly.

Matt chuckles again. He reaches a hand under Mitch’s chin and tilts his head up into a kiss. Mitch rests a hand on his shoulder. The camera zooms in on their heads as they make out for an excruciating 30 seconds of screen time. Wet kissing noises are bumped up in the audio.

Finally, the camera cuts to a talking head interview of Matt.

Matt “Mitchy is a... an enthusiastic kisser. Not bad. I think with a little bit of practice he could really get somewhere”. His face is red and he’s fidgeting by the end of the sentence. He chuckles, embarrassed, but looks disarmingly charming when he smiles.

Cuts back briefly of Matt and Mitch still locked in an amorous embrace.

Camera cuts to another talking head interview, this time of Mitch.

Mitch “Matt is a GOOD kisser”. He winks and give a ‘very good/excellent’ gesture. “Like God tier”. He nods still giving the “OK’ sign.

Camera cuts back to the one-on-one time. They have finally stopped snogging but they are still cuddled up in the stands as the camera pans away.

Camera transitions to a dinner date. Matt and Sydney sit opposite each other a small two person table.

Sydney “I love seeing your dogs on Instagram all the time. Max and Chester.” She eats a forkful of salad.

Matt, sighing “Yeah they’re good boys. Were good boys. We had to put Chester down last year”. He smiles but looks sad.

Sydney “Oh honey! I guess that’s why I haven’t seen him on your stories for a while”. She frowns looking down at her food.

Sydney “We had to put down our family dog, Oreo, here a couple years ago. It was so hard, I grew up with that dog. She’d been with me from middle school to my college graduation. But we found out she had stomach cancer and was in a lot pain. She was almost 17 at that point and we figured she’d lived a long and happy life and it was time to let go...”

Matt “ Yeah, Chester had a problem with his lungs, he wheezed all the time. It absolutely broke my heart when the vet said there wasn’t anything else they could do. Sooo, one afternoon in the summer we said goodbye...”

Sydney’s eyes glimmer with I unshed tears and she gets up and walks around the table to give Matt a hug. He stands to join her and they hold each other in a comforting embrace until the camera pans away.

The camera cuts back the scene at the stone balcony. The camera once again focuses on Mitch’s hopeful face. It cuts to Sydney’s steady expression, she takes a deep breath.

Matt “ This decision wasn’t easy...I genuinely love you both. I’m honestly surprised with myself how quickly I came to care about you both. But when I pictured what the rest of my life would look like...who I could picture waking up next to in the morning. The decision became clear...”

Matt “Mitchy...” He steps up to Mitch and takes his hands in his own. “If I could keep you both by my side. I would in a heart beat.” He pauses looking down at their hands, choked up. “The hardest part is knowing that I have to break your heart.” He looks back up, a tear spilling over. “I’m sorry...but I can’t give you final rose...”

Mitch steps away, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he is overcome with emotion. He quickly beginning crying and Matt pulls him into a hug. He whispers another ‘I’m sorry’, rubs Mitch’s arm and pulls away.

Matt turns towards Sydney, she is also overcome with emotion, for an entirely different reason. Matt gets down on one knee and produces a small velvet box.

”Syd...Sydney Esiason. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

She’s crying, hand over her mouth but nods enthusiastically. Matt stands up to kiss her and place the generic diamond ring on her ring finger. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and they sway on that stone balcony.

Mitch has disappeared from the scene as the camera zooms out.

One last talking head interview of Mitch.

Mitch is in the same blue suit against a dark background. He’s still sniffling and wiping his nose with a tissue. A producer off screen asks “You wanna tell us how you’re feeling right now?” Mitch lightly sobs and shakes his head, burying his face in another tissue.

The camera cuts to Matt and Syd’s marital planning. The episode ends with a teaser for the post season wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So originally I was gonna do contestant bios for this chapter but I’m glad I waited because the current leafs roster does not spark joy XD
> 
> I’m thinking of having other players from the league be some of the contestants so please comment which good boy you think I should add.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Sorry if it's weird? Let me know if you want more? ;-P


End file.
